Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points and D’Angelo Russell added 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday stunned the Golden State Warriors 112-95, handing the defending NBA champions their sixth loss of the season, all on the road.
Kobe Bryant added 12 points in helping the Lakers earn one of the biggest upsets in NBA history and their biggest victory in a downtrodden farewell season for Bryant, who spent the fourth quarter on the bench resting his aching right shoulder.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 18 points on a day when they were awful offensively. Klay Thompson added 15 points, but the Splash Brothers were a combined one of 18 from three-point range. In all, the Warriors missed 26 of 30 attempts from long range.
Photo: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY
Golden State fell to 55-6 and the Lakers improved to 13-51.
The loss snapped Golden State’s seven-game winning streak and was their first since a 32-point blowout defeat at Portland on Feb. 19.
PISTONS 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 103
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Reggie Jackson scored 30 points in another big game against Portland as Detroit beat the Trail Blazers.
Jackson scored 40 points when Detroit beat Portland on Nov. 8 last year, including 26 in the fourth quarter. He picked up right where he left off in Sunday’s rematch, scoring 11 points in the first quarter as the Pistons took a 30-16 lead.
Andre Drummond had 14 points and 18 rebounds for Detroit, and Marcus Morris added 19 points. Jackson had nine assists along with all of his scoring.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 26 points, but shot eight of 22 from the field.
Detroit led 58-51 at halftime then scored the first nine points of the third quarter, taking a 16-point lead on Jackson’s driving layup.
THUNDER 104, BUCKS 96
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kevin Durant had 32 points and 12 rebounds and Russell Westbrook posted his 10th triple-double of the season as Oklahoma City built a big early lead and held off Milwaukee.
Westbrook finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Thunder, who led by 21 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter before nearly getting overrun by the Bucks.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his third triple-double of the season with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Khris Middleton scored 18 points, including 10 straight during a 24-5 run between the third and fourth quarters that drew the Bucks within 84-82 with 11 minutes, 23 seconds left.
The Thunder withstood the Bucks from there, holding Milwaukee without a field goal for about a seven-minute stretch of the fourth quarter.
ROCKETS 113, RAPTORS 107
In Toronto, James Harden had 40 points and 14 assists to help Houston end Toronto’s franchise-record, 12-game home winning streak.
The Raptors lost at home for the first time since Jan. 3 against the Chicago Bulls.
The Rockets also snapped their eight-game losing streak north of the border, winning in Toronto for the first time since the 2006-2007 season.
Corey Brewer had 23 points off the bench for the Rockets, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the second quarter. Dwight Howard added 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Luis Scola led the Raptors with 21 points, while DeMar DeRozan had 19.
In other results, it was:
‧ Nuggets 116, Mavericks 114, OT
‧ Suns 109, Grizzlies 100
‧ Heat 103, 76ers 98
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was